Friday, January 9, 2009

Australia wife charged for setting husband's genitals afire

ADELAIDE, Australia - An Australian woman has been charged with murder after allegedly setting her husband's genitals on fire because she thought he was having an affair.

Prosecutors told the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday 44-year-old Rajini Narayan confessed to neighbours she set her husband on fire Dec. 8, after she saw him hug another woman.

She was initially charged with endangering life and arson but the charges were upgraded to murder after her 47-year-old husband, Satish Narayan, died from his injuries last week.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Narayan told neighbours she was a "jealous wife" but she hadn't meant to kill her husband when she doused the sleeping man's genitals with an alcohol-based solvent and set him on fire.

The husband jumped out of bed and knocked over the bottle of alcohol, causing the fire to spread and resulting in damage to their townhouse and an adjacent property, the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper reported.

Narayan was remanded in custody for psychological assessment and will reappear in court Friday.

She has been charged with murder, arson and three counts of endangering life, as the couple's three children were at home during the incident.